Share “Jet stowaway undetected for hours before...”

Jet stowaway undetected for hours before departure

Published on NewsOK
Modified: April 22, 2014 at 10:36 pm •
Published: April 22, 2014

Advertisement

A plane takes off at Mineta San Jose International Airport, Monday, April 21, 2014, in San Jose, Calif. A 15-year-old boy scrambled over a fence at the airport, crossed a tarmac and climbed into a jetliner's wheel well, then flew for five freezing hours to Hawaii, Sunday. FBI spokesman Tom Simon in Honolulu said the teen did not remember the flight from San Jose. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

The Transportation Security Administration said it has spent $80 billion on aviation security since its inception, shortly after the 9/11 attacks. That includes baggage and passenger screening, but not perimeter security, which is the responsibility of local authorities.

San Jose airport officials declined to answer questions about their security budget.

Swalwell said San Jose airport officials told him Tuesday they were still reviewing video from before dawn Sunday because there are multiple feeds from many cameras at the 1,050-acre airport.

Simon, at the FBI, said video they've found so far shows the teen right after he scaled the fence and going toward the plane.

The boy has not been charged with a crime, but much about him — including his identity and his motivation — remained a public mystery. Media were camped outside a Santa Clara, Calif., home where his family purportedly lives, but no one came out Tuesday. Authorities haven't released the boy's name, but Jennifer Dericco, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara Unified School District, said that he attends school in the district.

The FAA says about one-quarter of the 105 stowaways who have sneaked aboard flights worldwide since 1947 have survived. Some wheel-well stowaways survived deadly cold and a lack of oxygen because their breathing, heart rate and brain activity slow down.

___

Pritchard reported from Los Angeles and can be reached at https://twitter.com/lalanewsman . Garcia can be reached at http://twitter.com/oskargarcia .

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu and Raquel Maria Dillon in Victorville, Calif., and AP National Writer Martha Mendoza in San Jose, Calif.